Childhood obesity America Fact ,prevalence and health consequence

Childhood obesity has become a major problem for the United States of America for the last few decades. This problem puts the kids at risk of a poor health condition. Too much intake of high calorie foods with no or a little physical activity is the main reason of children becoming obese or overweight. Though the problem is lessened in preschoolers, the overall picture is still not good. Childhood obesity America has reached the top among kids and adolescents. In the year 1970, only 5% of the U.S children aged 2-19 years were obese. But now according to the Center for Disease Control, the rate of children and adolescent obesity is 17%. About 12.7 million children and adolescents were affected by this problem.

Facts and Figures

Childhood obesity trends in USA shows us the following results:

Children obesity rate remain stable at about 17% for the last couple of years.

The obesity rate among Hispanics is 21.9%

5% of Hispanic Blacks are affected by obesity

Among non-Hispanic whites, 14.7% people are suffering from this condition

Among all the youths in America, non-Hispanic Asian youths are the least sufferer of childhood and adolescent obesity. The rate stands at only 8.6%

Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in the United States 2011-2016:

Age group Percentage

3 – 23 months 12.3%

2 – 5 years 8.9%

6 – 11 years 17.5%

12 – 19 years 20.5%

These rates depict a horrible situation prevailing in the American society. Parents every day are getting more and more worried for their kids. What will be the health consequences are their primary concern.

Health consequences of Childhood obesity in America

Obesity tells upon your child’s health to a great extent. Having unbalanced diet, especially taking in foods like snacks, chocolate chips, cookies, take away foods and sweetened beverages, will make your child fat. In addition, if (s)he does not have enough physical activity like playing outdoors or swimming, the fat will accumulate in his/her body. This fat has a long term negative effect on both a child’s health and mind. Obese children are more likely to become the victim of cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, insulin tolerance, sleep apnea, asthma etc. Apart from these, there is also a deep impact on your kids’ psychology as well. Obese kids go under low self-esteem and low confidence level. Social insecurity is another issue as they have a higher chance of being bullied at school.

Remember, obesity is a curse for your child. Save him/her from this abyss.